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Talk:SorryNotSorry/@comment-3575890-20160427020510/@comment-3284502-20160427024329
I don't agree with the death penalty for a few reasons: A) Executions are actually more expensive than incarceration is, because you have to be 100% sure that they did it and making sure of that is expensive, as are the methods used to kill them. Never mind appeals and all of that. B) Margin for error - I'd rather a guilty person be found not guilty and be arrested later than an innocent person be found guilty and executed. You can release a wrongful conviction from jail or put a wrongful acquittal behind bars - you can't take back an execution. C) I'd rather they have to live with it, as Rob said. D) The death penalty is disproportionately meted out to the poor, POC, and mentally ill offenders. E) I don't agree with answering death with more death. I'd also rather try and figure out WHY these people are murderers and address that - pure sadism is rarely the reason for a murder. And of those that are, I'd rather find a solution to fix said sadism - I do believe that it's possible. There are numerous success stories of rehabilitating criminals and I'm sure murderers, rightly or wrongly are included in that. Holding ourselves to higher standards and treating murderers as humans, including respecting their inalienable rights, is part of what makes us morally superior to them (and no, I'm not saying you're on the same level, Dani, don't worry - you're motivated by a desire for justice, these hypothetical people are motivated by malice, but I believe it's important to demonstrate the right way to behave) F) I'd rather start fixing the prison system and legal issues that cause overcrowding/understaffing/underresourcing in the first place than start killing inmates. Fixing the prison system might also help with reoffence rates, as a lot of reoffences tie back to the prison system. Not necessarily for murder, but other offences, yes. G) I don't believe in inalienable rights becoming alienable. Either they can't be taken away or they can. You can't have both. It worries me due to the potential to then proceed to make other offences worthy of losing rights - what ELSE can become alienable? Who ELSE deserves to die? It's not guaranteed to ever happen, but the potential makes my blood curdle. H) The death penalty is not actually much of a deterrent - places that use it still have comparable crime rates, including for capital crimes. It doesn't stop them, and so it's pretty functionally useless on that front. If you wanna stop a crime, you have to deal with the root cause. Personally, I'd rather keep them in jail, try to fix them, and take away the option of parole for major offences like murder (as in "with no chance of parole" actually MEANING "no, you're not getting paroled") than risk the massive problems in the death penalty. EDIT: JESUS THIS WAS LONG. I did not intend it to be, oops. *sweatdrop* Ahehheheheheheh I love you Dani <3